The Trump, Mnuchin and Cohn Tax Plan: Goldman Sachs Populism At Its Worst

Statement of Robert Weissman, President of Public Citizen

Note: U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn appeared at a White House press briefing today to outline President Donald Trump’s tax plan.

Welcome to Goldman Sachs populism! Surprise! The Goldman Sachs tax plan will slash taxes on giant corporations and the corporate elite. With the elimination of the alternative minimum and estate taxes, it not so incidentally appears to confer huge benefits on President Trump himself – though of course we can’t know for sure so as long as Trump’s tax returns remain secret.

American corporations are reporting record profits. They are dodging taxes at outrageous levels. There is zero rationale for cutting corporate taxes and zero reason to think that lower taxes will generate more investment.

It will take quite a while to parse all of the lies and misstatements in today’s tax presentation from the White House. All the fantasies about dynamic scoring and imaginary boosts to investment can’t change the widely understood reality that the economy cannot sustain tax cuts on corporations of this magnitude.

Trickle-down economics hasn’t worked before, and it won’t work now.

By turning his back on Trump’s campaign promises to tackle unpatriotic inverting companies, the Goldman Sachs proposal instead opens the door for a mass corporate exodus.

Gary Cohn says he won’t bet against this president, but it’s transparently obvious that this plan – or, really a gesture toward a plan – is dead on arrival.